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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24892675">Warm Me Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvoryLotus/pseuds/IvoryLotus'>IvoryLotus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gratsu One Shots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fairy Tail</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, But he doesn't actually die, M/M, Mates, One Shot, POV First Person, Post-War, Rejection, Spoilers, dying character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:34:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,121</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24892675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvoryLotus/pseuds/IvoryLotus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragons only have one mate, only one love to last for eternity, and if their mate rejects them they will burn brighter and brighter to change their mind, to convince them that they are worth their love. If they fail though, if they can’t gain the acceptance of their mate, they will die. Slow and painfully.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Gratsu One Shots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Warm Me Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just a short one-shot that popped into my head.<br/>I literally wrote this in an hour so sorry for any mistakes.<br/>I'm not a decent writer so this is your warning.<br/>This story is told in first person point of view, flipping between Natsu and Gray.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gray. I always knew you would be the death of me. I think you always knew too. </p>
<p>That night on Galuna Island so long ago, when I punched you in the gut because you were in no condition to fight, do you remember what you said to me? You never did finish your sentence but I knew what you were trying to say, and regardless of whether or not you really meant it, I knew it was the truth. </p>
<p>I knew it was the truth from the moment we met and I discovered you were my mate.</p>
<p>No matter what I did or said, you wanted only to fight with me. I think pushing me away was your way of trying to keep me safe from the curse you thought you were. I tried to explain that you weren’t a curse, and the best place for me was with you, but you would never listen long enough for me to explain. </p>
<p>Dragons only have one mate, only one love to last for eternity, and if their mate rejects them they will burn brighter and brighter to change their mind, to convince them that they are worth their love. If they fail though, if they can’t gain the acceptance of their mate, they will die. Slow and painfully. </p>
<p>When we were fighting during the war, I knew you were fighting to kill, but even when I wasn’t myself, I still couldn’t bring myself to fight you full force. You probably didn’t even notice, but before Erza jumped in the middle, I was already letting my flames die and moving myself directly into the path of your attack. Trying to make sure you would be the last thing I saw before I died. Like I said, you probably didn’t notice, but Erza did. </p>
<p>She has been keeping a close eye on me any chance she gets since then, but with everything that was going on then and everything that has happened since, she didn’t have the time to pull me aside to talk about it. I could see she wanted to, and I’ve been avoiding being alone with her ever since. </p>
<p>I didn’t want her to know because I knew she would try to fix things. Would try to save me at any cost, but I couldn’t risk you being forced into something you didn’t actually want.<br/>
It’s already bad enough that all the dragon slayers know now, it’s impossible for them to miss the signs this close to the end, but I know they won’t try to force a bond just to save me. I’ve asked Wendy to look after Happy when I’m gone and explain everything to him, because I couldn’t bring myself to tell him for the same reason I couldn’t tell Erza. He would do whatever it took. </p>
<p>I’ve done everything I needed to do before I died. Zeref and Acnologia have been defeated, all our friends and family are safe, and Gray is alive and will soon have his greatest wish granted. The death of E.N.D. </p>
<p>So here I am, lying in the clearing I woke up in after traveling through the eclipse gate. It was about a day’s walk from Magnolia in my current condition where it normally only takes half that, but despite the memories of waking up to find Igneel gone, I can’t think of a single place I would rather it all end. I’ve made many trips here over the years when I was feeling down or just needed a place to relax away from the guild, just so I could lay among the fire lilies that bloomed in the clearing. </p>
<p>Even as the pain becomes blinding in its intensity, I still feel at peace laying in the clearing, the blood I’m coughing up matches the color of the flowers around me and it makes me smile in spite of the pain. </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>I can’t find Natsu anywhere. </p>
<p>I nearly lost him so many times over the last twenty-four hours. First because of some seed growing inside him, then because my own stupidity, then because Zeref, and then because Acnologia. The number of times I nearly lost him in the last twenty-four hours alone makes me dizzy, and knowing that I could have been the cause makes me nauseous.<br/>
Just thinking about my single minded focus to destroy E.N.D, to destroy Natsu, brings bile up my throat, but I swallow it because I’ve already spent enough time wallowing in self-pity, and its time I face Natsu myself. </p>
<p>I need to tell him that I’m sorry, that I didn’t mean to get blinded by my need to destroy that stupid book, and that I love him. I’ve fought my feelings for him for so long, pushed him away so much, and done so much damage that I doubt he will accept my apology let alone my feelings, but I have to try. </p>
<p>Natsu once told me that he loved me when we were fifteen, I wanted to tell him that I loved him to, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let another person in only to watch them die because of me. I thought if I kept my distance, if I kept him out, I could keep him safe. Natsu doesn’t stay out though. Natsu burns through every wall, and every barrier, until he has made a place for himself in your heart. </p>
<p>Not loving Natsu was never really an option, and its time I admit that to myself and to him. </p>
<p>So where the hell did he get off to?!</p>
<p>His injuries normally heal fairly fast but he was injured bad enough that he shouldn’t be up and about a whole lot yet. He has been surrounded by nearly all the dragon slayers since Acnologia’s defeat. Wendy is to be expected, but even Laxus and Gajeel from Fairy Tail and Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth have hardly left his side. </p>
<p>It’s been three days since the war against Alvarez ended and it’s been chaos all over the continent, but Magnolia was hit the worst. Many guilds have decided to stay and help rebuild the town once their injuries have healed, which includes Sabertooth, but it’s still weird that they are all just hanging around Natsu. </p>
<p>When Natsu does make it out of bed, they all hover, while trying to make it look like they aren’t hovering, like they are expecting him to collapse at any moment. </p>
<p>It’s been unsettling, but it does make finding Natsu a little easier. After all, it’s hard to miss one dragon slayer, let alone a group, and just like he expected it didn’t take long to find them. </p>
<p>What he didn’t expect was to find the group of dragon slayers minus the one he wanted to find. This was becoming ridiculous. </p>
<p>“Hey, have you guys seen Natsu?” I asked, because if anyone had, it would have been these guys with the way they have been hanging around him recently.  </p>
<p>Sting, Gajeel, and Laxus all turn to him with varying levels of anger, Rogue looks more emo than normal, but Wendy is who he focuses on, because in her arms is Happy who is balling as Wendy hugs him close as tears slip silently from her eyes. </p>
<p>I can feel my insides freeze, and I feel like Natsu just sucker punched me in the gut like that time on Galuna Island as my vision begins to blur, and I know the words I said that day have finally come back to haunt me. </p>
<p>“Where is he?” I whisper. </p>
<p>They all just stare at me in shock as if they just realized something monumental, but no one says anything. They don’t have to. I already know what they will say. </p>
<p>No, no, no, no, “NO! I CAN’T LOSE HIM!” I scream, “TELL ME WHERE HE IS!”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Wendy whispered, “he was gone when we woke up.”</p>
<p>I turn away from them, pulling my hair in frustration as I try to think of where he would go. </p>
<p>“There is still a chance you can save him,” she whispers hopefully, “but you have to find him first. Find him and bring him home.” She cries. </p>
<p>I’m running before I even have a destination in mind, but as my mind catches up to my body, I remember a clearing I followed Natsu to one time when we were kids. I remember his whole body relaxing as he walked among the flowers before laying down in the center with a content smile on his face. </p>
<p>It was the first moment I realized I was in love with him. </p>
<p>I freeze the ground in front of me, creating ice skates on my feet to build up speed, somehow losing my shirt in the process. </p>
<p>I have to hurry. </p>
<p>Hold on Natsu! Wait for me!</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Ever since I started learning fire dragon slayer magic from Igneel, I’ve never felt cold, even when surrounded by snow or covered in ice, but now it’s all I feel. The sun is just now setting, casting a golden orange glow over the clearing, but I can’t feel the warmth. </p>
<p>I don’t mind though. I even kind of like it. It reminds me of Gray</p>
<p>Gray was the only one ever able to cool my flames. He complemented by heat perfectly. The only person truly able to withstand their heat. </p>
<p>I close my eyes, as I try to summon an image of Gray, fully aware I will never open them again. I’m too tired to do anything more than wait for my final breath, waiting as images of Gray over the years play before my mind. </p>
<p>I can see the frozen fury in his eyes when he was pissed off, the way he would strip in the blink of an eye, the beauty of his magic. I can even almost hear him calling my name, like he calling for me from the other side of a long dark tunnel. He sounds desperate. Like he’s crying, but I can’t reach him. </p>
<p>I can hear the desperation grow and he sounds terrified. My body feels like lead but I can’t just sit here when he sounds like that. I need to open my eyes. Just one more time. </p>
<p>---</p>
<p>I come to a stop at the edge of the clearing I remember from so long ago, and let my magic dissipate. </p>
<p>It’s beautiful. </p>
<p>The setting sun has set the clearing ablaze with a golden light that reminds me of Natsu’s flames. I stand there stunned for a moment before I notice a small break in the sea of flowers. Just big enough for a person. </p>
<p>I’m running before I even register the movement, coming to a halt beside the most beautiful person Gray has ever known, with a heart and soul that burns as bright as the flames he wields. He has a soft smile on his face, like he is completely at peace, but when I touch him he feels cold. </p>
<p>Natsu should never feel cold. </p>
<p>His body temperature runs hot enough to kill anyone else, and never once has he felt cold to me of all people. </p>
<p>“Natsu?” I whisper, terrified of the reality in front of me, before continuing louder. “Natsu? Wake up, Natsu! I need you to wake up! I can’t do this without you, I can’t live without you here! Please! Please don’t make me live without you too!!!” I’m screaming by the end, tears streaming down my face as I plead with him to wake up. </p>
<p>I can’t. </p>
<p>I can’t live without him. He is the only reason I’m still alive today. The only reason I am able to keep going. </p>
<p>He is my reason for living. </p>
<p>“Please,” I whisper, “please, I love you. I love you. I love you!”</p>
<p>I’m sobbing as I continue to plead with him, clutching his unmoving body in my arms. I feel like I’m breaking. If Natsu isn’t leaving this clearing, then neither am I. I won’t leave him. Never again. </p>
<p>“I… love you too,” he whispers so quietly that I would have missed it if it weren’t for the silence surrounding the clearing. </p>
<p>I look down into the olive eyes I love more than life itself, feel his body temperature rise to its usual inferno, and I know everything is going to be okay. </p>
<p>“I love you,” I repeat, just because I can, and the blinding smile I get in response leaves me stunned. I lean forward and gently bring my lips to his, my entire body relaxing into the kiss as I feel his fire sear my soul. </p>
<p>I may be immune to the cold, but I will always be weak when it comes to Natsu’s heat.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>That's all folks!<br/>Thanks for suffering to the end!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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